Suburban Eruption—The Management of Social Unrest in the Suburbs of Stockholm in 2011

Abstract

During the evening of 19 May, the celebration of Sweden’s gold medal in the hockey World Championship took place in the centre of the city, while reports began coming in of an unusually large number of vehicles being set on fire in Husby. During the night, additional vehicles, and even a school and a garage, were set ablaze. Police and rescue personnel were attacked when they arrived on the scene, adding to the event an unusual component in that the police also had to protect the rescue workers on site. The riots in Husby that spread across the Stockholm suburbs lasted for two weeks, although there was nothing to indicate early on that it would last this long, and what crisis management needs would arise.